VICTORY at Royal Sydney is landmark breakthrough for Northern Irishman as it is his first triumph since his controversial switch to Nike clubs.

RORY McIlroy reckons he shot down his critics after victory at the Australian Open captured his first title in more than a year – and his first with Nike clubs.

McIlroy became only the second European to be presented with the Stonehaven Trophy, silverware boasting
the names of greats including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle and Greg Norman.

It had been so long since McIlroy’s
last victory, when he birdied the closing five holes to take last year’s closing Race to Dubai event, caddy J P Fitzgerald had to be reminded about the customary 18th-hole flag keepsake for winning caddies.

Local
hero Adam Scott had been chasing a second Australian Open title and was
also bidding to become the second player to win the country’s triple crown.

But
McIlroy birdied the 18th as Scott bogeyed – and it was the Northern Irishman who was applauded by the spectators who thronged the Royal Sydney club.

Accompanied by Fitzgerald and his manager Sean O’Flaherty, McIlroy quickly endeared himself to everyone.

He said: “I’m a bit embarrassed I’ve come here to Australia and ruined Adam’s goal to win the triple crown.

“But in saying that I just hope this winning trend continues and he can fit me with the green jacket next April. I still have Tiger’s event to play but this is a great springboard to 2014.

“There was a lot of criticism at the start of the year when I switched to Nike.

“So my message now to those people who still want to criticise me is this win should silence any further criticism.

“To take down someone of Adam’s calibre, and who is the Masters champion and now one of the best players
in the world, is a pretty nice feeling.

“I’ve said all along it’s about building back the confidence and I’ve been gradually achieving that.”

After
a sixth in Shanghai and a fifth in Dubai, McIlroy’s broken through to win an 11th tournament and in the process secure only his second success
outside of the European and PGA Tours. It’s also the fifth occasion he’s fought back from behind to claim victory.

O’Flaherty said: “To those who will now say Rory is back well, my response is he was never away!”